


your heart is a masterpiece, and i'll keep it safe

by untakenbeepun



Category: Kaleidotrope (Podcast)
Genre: Mostly Fluff, Other, Some hurt/comfort, i live for protective drew, mention of drew's shitty parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-07
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-09-13 16:26:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16896021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/untakenbeepun/pseuds/untakenbeepun
Summary: Drew has a protective streak. Harrison is into it.





	your heart is a masterpiece, and i'll keep it safe

Drew has a protective streak.

Harrison notices it first when he’s toppling straight off a ladder – and Drew’s right there to catch him in his arms, one hooking under Harrison’s knees, the other bracing across his back. Just for a moment, Drew’s grip on Harrison tightens, and Harrison – heart pounding in his chest, sees this fierce look of worry flash across his face.

And then he breaks out into a smile.

“Hey,” Drew says, after a pause.

Harrison loses his breath a little.

_Who allowed this man to be so damn sexy?_

“Hey,” Harrison says, doing his best not to let his voice wobble.

“You okay?”

“Yeah! I’m great!”

Harrison reluctantly lets himself slip out of Drew’s arms and puts his shaking feet back on the floor, although he can’t seem to let go of the lapels of Drew’s suit.

_God, he looks unfairly good all dressed up like this._

“You look amazing,” Harrison says.

That famous blush of his spreads across Drew’s face, and Harrison’s heart warms.  

It’s hard to concentrate with Drew looking at him so warmly, deep brown eyes shining under the florescent library lights, dimples pinching his cheeks every time he tries to hide that gorgeous smile of his.

“I was worried that you were going to kill yourself on this thing, and I’d have to broadcast all alone,” Drew says, “and _that_ wasn’t going to happen.”

In that moment, Harrison feels like he must look like a cartoon puppy dog with his heart beating out of his chest.

There’s an intensity to Drew’s gaze that makes Harrison’s knees a little weak, and it’s all that he can do to stop himself from pulling on Drew’s lapels and kissing the crap out of him.

The moment ends when Drew starts the broadcast, but that doesn’t stop Harrison’s head from reeling.

* * *

 

The second time he notices it, he’s being accosted by that awful woman, Trustee Longworth. 

He’s not letting go of the Sidlesmith contract any time soon, but this vicious woman isn’t giving up either, digging her claws into him. Harrison recoils, partly because of the way she scratched him trying to grab the contract, and partly because he’s not particularly fond of being touched by strangers.

“Stop!” Harrison says, yanking the contract away from her.

Drew is up out of his seat in an instant, throwing one arm across Harrison’s chest and the other out towards Longworth.

“Back the fuck off,” he snarls, “don’t you _dare_ touch him.”

In spite of everything, a delicious thrill shoots down Harrison’s spine, something flipping over in his stomach in the way that Drew’s voice _sounds_ , all dark and dangerous and entirely for his aid.

Later than night, he’ll notice Drew’s fingers lightly ghosting over the tiny scratch marks on Harrison’s wrist, before wrapping his arms tight around Harrison’s waist and holding him close to his chest.

* * *

The third time, it’s all a little more dramatic. 

There’s a tree in the arboretum, bigger than all the others, with low hanging branches that are easy to climb on, so utterly tempting but also terribly lethal. The amount of people who end up in the nurse’s office with broken bones from trying to climb up that tree had reached double digits. That’s the catch – it’s very easy to climb up, impossible to climb down.

Which is why, when Harrison sees the campus cat – a gorgeous fluffy little thing – stuck precariously up on one of the top branches, he has to do _something_. 

“Harrison, don’t,” Drew says, when he sees Harrison clamber up onto one of the lower branches.

“Someone has to help the cat,” Harrison says, steadying his feet as he reached for the next branch, “he’ll really hurt himself if he falls down.”

“So will you.”

“I mend easily. He doesn’t,” Harrison says stubbornly.

“We should call the fire brigade,” Drew says. “Or find someone with a ladder.”

“And what if he falls by the time we do?”

He doesn’t listen to Drew’s answer – nothing he could say would stop Harrison from climbing that tree anyway. That cat is too beloved not to help him.  

He eases himself up branch by branch, ignoring Drew’s worried cries from down below, and gradually pulls himself up to sit on the same branch at the cat.

“Here Valentine,” Harrison says, holding out his arm and rubbing his fingers together.

From down below, he hears Drew scoff, in spite of himself.

“The cat’s name is _Valentine_?”

Harrison ignores him.  

“C’mere, boy,” Harrison says, as Valentine warily makes his way across the branch towards him. “There’s a good boy.”

Eventually, he entices the cat into his lap, wrapping him up into his arms. “There you are,” he says, “you’re safe now.”

And then, the branch snaps.

“HARRISON!”

Harrison falls through the air, cat in his arms, and smacks into the ground full-force, the wind knocked out of him.

Valentine looks at him reproachfully, meows once, and then slinks away, unharmed.

Harrison isn’t so lucky.

“Harrison!” Drew is at his side in an instant, dropping to his knees.

Harrison doesn’t speak, eyes squeezed shut as he lets out a groan, pain radiating up through his leg. With deft fingers, Drew sweeps Harrison’s hair out of his eyes, his other hand linking their fingers together.

“Harrison, can you hear me?” Drew’s voice is soft, but there’s an urgency behind it too. “Can you tell me where it hurts?”

“My ankle,” Harrison manages to say.

“Can you move?”

All he can do his shake his head furiously.

“Come on. I’ll take you to the nurse’s office.”

All he feels is Drew’s arms, one sliding gently under his knees, the other under his back, and then he’s been pulled up into the air, safe against Drew’s chest. Harrison yelps once when his ankle is jostled, and Drew mumbles apologies, over and over again until Harrison places a hand over his heart.

“You can’t carry me all the way across campus,” Harrison mumbles.

“I can,” Drew says. “I’ve got you. It’s okay.”

So, Harrison lets himself relax against Drew, eyes fluttering shut as he tries not to think about the pain in his ankle.  

...It doesn’t take him long to realise that Drew’s carrying him bridal-style again, and it’s only a few moments after that, that he registers just how _strong_ Drew is.

“I never noticed before,” Harrison says.

“Noticed what?”

“How much _muscle_ you’ve got,” Harrison says with a smile, one hand squeezing Drew’s bicep. “It’s always been hidden under layers of hoodie.”

Drew splutters. His face is terribly red.

“I can’t believe I’ve got such a strong boyfriend,” Harrison says, his voice gleeful in spite of the pain in his leg. “Such a strong, beautiful, protective boyfriend, sweeping me off my feet and carrying me out of danger.”

“I’ll drop you.”

Harrison grins. “No, you won’t.”

He won’t.

In fact, Drew’s arms tighten around him, pulling him closer, and Harrison knows, even with the horrible pain in his ankle, that in Drew’s arms, he’s safe.

* * *

 

“Six weeks!” Harrison wails, scrunching his nose up and pouting.

“I did tell you not to climb the tree, darling,” Drew says crisply, moving the pillows around behind Harrison so that he could sit up better.

Harrison prodded at his cast, pouting. “I hate it,” he grumbles.

Drew ruffles his hair, and despite himself, Harrison leans into, enjoying the feeling of Drew’s touch.

“I know you do.”

“Can’t move. Can’t itch it. Can’t do anything.” Harrison scrunches his nose up and huddles down in his pillows, sticking his lower lip out.

Drew grins, dropping to the floor beside the sofa, shifting his head to rest it against Harrison’s knee. Harrison slinks his hand down to run his fingers through Drew’s hair, almost instinctively.  

It’s not until that he notices the slightly fraught expression and ruffled brow across Drew’s face, and that his fingers are drumming up and down on his knees in the way he only does when he’s particularly anxious.

“What’s wrong?” Harrison asks.

“Nothing.”

“Tell me.”

Drew sighs, shifting around and pressing his face into the side of the sofa, hand reaching out to clutch Harrison’s.

“Don’t like see you hurt,” he mumbles.

Harrison’s thoughts flutter back to the hospital visit.  

_“I won’t leave him,”_ Drew had said, when they’d told him to wait outside. _“I’m not going to leave him alone.”_

It wasn’t until Harrison had told it him it was okay before he’d let the nurse nudge him out into the waiting room, and even then, he’d paced back and forth, unable to sit still.

“Oh, _Drew_ ,” Harrison says, his voice cracking a little. “It’s just a broken ankle.”

“Still.” His voice is muffled from being pressed against the sofa.

Something in Harrison just _melts._ He’d never expected, never even dared _hope_ that one day he’d find someone who cares about him as much as Drew does. If someone had told him that someday there’d be someone who’d care for him as much as Drew does, who’d protect him as much as Drew does, who’d _love_ him as much as Drew does, he’d have laughed.

“ _Drew_ ,” Harrison says again, breathlessly.

He reaches down to tug at Drew’s arm, who slips it over Harrison’s waist, kneeling up to press himself against Harrison, head resting over the top of his heart.

It can’t be comfortable for him, but neither seem to care.

For a good long while, all they do is cling to each other.

And then, eventually:

“Okay, now my legs are starting to ache,” Drew says.

All Harrison can do is giggle.

* * *

 

“Freeeeeedooooom!” Harrison sings, dancing around Drew’s apartment.

They’d just arrived home, Harrison’s ankle cast-free, and he’d wasted no time using his feet again.

“I love not having to wear a cast!” he says, still using that sing song noise as he spins around in what is a surprisingly well-formed pirouette.

“Careful!” Drew says, dropping his bag and toeing off his shoes before joining Harrison in the centre of the living room. “I don’t want to have to drive you back to hospital.”

He can’t help but smile anyway, moving forward to pull Harrison into his arms.

“Spoilsport,” Harrison says, but accepts the hug, before gasping, “Drew! We have to go out tonight to celebrate!”

“Really?” Drew says, grinning. “You’ve been restless, haven’t you?”

“Pleeeeeeease,” Harrison whines. “I haven’t moved in _weeks._ I need to do something or I’m going to shrivel up and _die_.”

“Not at all an exaggeration.”

“Not even a little bit.”

“Well,” Drew says, “I hear Rosa and Sabrina are throwing a party tonight...”

“Perfect!” Harrison squeals.

Drew has to stop him before does even more damage to his ankle.

* * *

 

Sometimes parties are too much.

Sometimes they’re wonderful, and Harrison feels warm and fuzzy and happy and connected to everyone in the room; on those days, Harrison loves everyone around him, and he loves life and he loves himself.

And then sometimes...

Sometimes it’s like the room is both too big and too small at the same time, and it’s like Harrison’s watching everything else happen around him, like he’d started to fade away and the whole world had continued on without him, forgetting he’d ever existed.

It’s too loud, too hot and there are too many people around him, and something squeezes in his stomach, and he knows that he needs to leave.

He finds himself sitting on the back steps of the house, knees pulled up to his chest, breath catching in the cold air.

He hears the door behind him, and for a moment, the loud mix of voices filters outside, and then muffles again when the door closes, and he hears footsteps coming towards him. Someone sits down beside him, and it’s too small for the both of them so their shoulders are pressed together, but it’s okay because it’s just Drew, and Drew is safe.

Harrison doesn’t say anything, he just leans over and rests his head on Drew’s shoulder, letting himself sink into Drew’s embrace.

Drew doesn’t say anything, and for that, Harrison is grateful.  

“Sorry,” he mumbles after a while.

“What for?”

“I’m the one who dragged you here,” Harrison says. “I’m the one who wanted to go. And now I’m the one making us sit outside because I can’t handle it.”

Drew holds him closer, his head resting on top of Harrison’s. “You’re not making me do anything,” he says, softly. “And it’s not your fault for needing some air.”

“Sometimes I don’t know why you put up with me,” Harrison whispers. “I do stupid things all the time like climb trees and break my ankle, I drag you to parties and then can’t handle them, I make you go along with all of my schemes and then you have to clean up all of my mess, I’m a burden and a nusiance and I just really, really, don’t deserve you.”

“Hey,” Drew says, his voice soft, wrapping Harrison even tighter up into his arms and pressing his lips Harrison’s ear. “You broke your ankle because you didn’t want the cat to get hurt, because you’re good, and you’re kind, and you _care_. You go to parties because you love people and want to be around them even if it’s too much for you sometimes.”

He pulls away slightly, hands cupping Harrison’s face, his thumb deftly wiping away a stray tear that had streaked down his cheek. “And I go along with your schemes because I just can’t help it, I love being around you because you light up the room you’re in, and whenever I’m beside you, I feel like I can do anything. Like I can _be_ anything.”

He leans forward and kisses Harrison sweetly, pressing their foreheads together. “I love you,” Drew says, “I love you, and you’re not a burden, and you’re not a nuisance, and you deserve _the world._ You deserve the world, Harrison.”

Harrison’s crying by the end of the speech, and all he can do is hold onto Drew tight and let himself be held, sitting quietly together in the cold night air.

* * *

 

The apartment is dark when Harrison gets there.

“Drew?” he calls out, as he drops his backpack onto the floor, switching on the lights.

He knows Drew’s here – his keys are in their little pot, and his shoes are tossed haphazardly in the corner.

He wanders into the kitchen, but he’s not in there. No Drew in the living room either.

It’s not until he reaches the bedroom that Harrison hears the sniffling.

“Drew?” he says quietly, inching the door open slowly.

Drew’s there, curled up on the bed, trying to stifle his tears. Harrison doesn’t say anything, he just slides down on the bed next to him, curling around his back and slinking hand over his waist, chin pressed on his shoulder.

A few moments pass, and Drew locks their fingers together.

Harrison still doesn’t say anything, he just waits for Drew to talk.

Eventually, Drew clears his throat. “So, Mum and Dad rang today.”

“Ah,” Harrison says, understanding coming to him all at once.

Drew’s told him several stories about his parents, and Harrison hasn’t liked the sound of any of them. 

“They don’t deserve you,” Harrison says, squeezing Drew tightly.

Drew makes a non-committal noise from the back of his throat.

“I’m serious,” Harrison says, his voice firm. “If they can’t see how amazingly wonderful you are, then they don’t deserve you.”

Drew nods slowly, and Harrison feels something flare up in him, something like anger and love all at once. He clambers up onto Drew, pinning him by the wrists.

“Harrison, what are you—”

“Say that you’re wonderful.”

“What?”

“Say the words, ‘I, Drew, am I wonderful human being.” 

Drew scowls. “I’m not gonna—”

“I’m not getting off of you until you say it,” Harrison says.

Drew gives a very long sigh. “I, Drew, am I wonderful human being,” he repeats, deadpan.

“And I deserve better.”

“And I deserve better,” Drew says, no less deadpan.

“Good,” Harrison says, and then he bends down to pepper kisses all over Drew’s face until they’re both giggling and breathless, rolling around on the bed together.

After a few moments, Drew pulls Harrison into a hug. “ _Thank you_ ,” he mumbles into his hair.

“Any time,” Harrison says, and he means it.

The thought of anyone or anything making Drew think that he wasn’t worth the universe had Harrison fuming. No one was allowed to make Drew feel less than. No one was allowed to make his wonderful, smart, brave boyfriend feel inferior.

And Harrison, five foot, skinny, pink-haired Harrison would fight anybody if it meant that Drew was okay.

_..._ Okay, maybe Harrison has a protective streak too.


End file.
